measure extruded material width

not having much luck, has anyone ever tried to measure anything like the clear extruded polymer material

If you are not looking for a precision measurement, then something like a Keyence IV vision sensor would probably work given the contrast of the material on the web and assuming that the web material is being stretched somewhat taut as the polymer material is being applied.

Any of the vision sensor/ system manufacturers would be happy to visit and demonstrate to you how well their product will solve your problem...

I'm sure an appropriate Cognex camera with suitable filter would work for you

Cognex said they did not have anything after taking a sample of the product that they thought would be reliable and had a banner rep who said the same thing. I experimented with a Banner Array sensor on the bench just trying to see the clear material without it being on the fabric, and results not very good. Actually the sensor was a banner fiber optic array type sensor, just vibration on the fiber cables for some reason made the output change almost a half of a millamp. The resolution is 1mm.
Not much luck, ordered a array sensor from automation direct just to experiment with it. Hoping to just detect the width of the clear material as it comes out of the extruder nozzle and with a analog output going back into a allen bradley plc, scale it to know the width. Very straight forward to measure and scale but the problem is getting something to see the clear material consistent enough to put on a high speed production machine.

B&W camera, dark field. Software looking for two straight lines. Two boxes with a spacing range.
Looking at your photo, I can clearly see bright white edges of the tape. Sure looks easy from here.

Is that strip in a constant location?

Roll 2 Roll has a pretty awesome vision based web guide platform that happens to be able to do some measurements that sees things no other thing we have tried can see. https://www.r2r-tech.com/

Their currently limited sensor head width is the biggest limitation. They are new and still very open to working with people on semi custom applications.

Do you have/can you get the transmittance spectrum of the material? If so you may be able to get an optical fitler/lamp combination where it is not transparent. You may need an infra red or UV camera, then connect it to cognex or someone's vision software.

Flir have IR cameras with a limited set of vision functions and industrial protocols that may work for your application.

A lens manufacturer like knight optic should be able to help you with the spectrum analysis and filter selection if needed.

Also, what update rate do you need for "high speed"?

Our infrared sensor can see clear material. The most versatile one is the 48 mm sensor (https://www.r2r-tech.com/products/sensors/aris-wps-48). Our newest sensor is 440 mm (17.5") wide (https://www.r2r-tech.com/products/aris-wps-440-ir). Please contact us we would be more than happy to help with your application. Phone: +1-888-290-3215 or send an e-mail to [email protected].

Please see the demo video to see the sensor in action: https://www.r2r-tech.com/videos/aris-web-position-sensor-demo-multiple-materials